Scientific amazement: they find 168 new drawings in Nazca visible only from above

Japanese scientists discovered on the southern coast of Peru 168 new geoglyphs near the Nazca linesconsidered since 1994 by UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as confirmed by art Yamagata University (Western Japan).

This team of academics from Yamagata University, led by Masato Sakai, made the discovery with the help of local archaeologists, aerial imagery and drones, where discovered 168 new geoglyphs or large figures drawn on slopes or hills.

“In total we found 168 figures: about 50 human, as well as birds, felines, snakes and also many linear and trapezoidal figures,” Sakai told EFE, noting that pottery was also found.

Since the beginning of the research project in 2004 -and since 2010 in the field-, Japanese scientists have already found 358 figures (including those of the new discovery), with which we try to protect these deposits, but also to understand the objective with which they were created.

“To protect the lines, we need to know their exact location so they don’t become homes or local people use the area for agriculture,” says Sakai, who believes they were used to mark trails and paths.

The researcher explains it now They also use artificial intelligence with the aim of finding patterns and seeing exactly what you wanted to communicate with these forms, which with traditional research methods would take a long time due to the large field to investigate.

“We can find these shapes on roads and trails, so we want to figure out the combinations to know what they meant,” says Sakai.

The Nazca Lines have traditionally been held to be a great astronomical calendarOther experts believe so they are religious figures and some ufologists argue that they were landing strips for alien spacecraft.

The most representative figures are known as the spider, the monkey and the hummingbird, as well as the condor, pelican, seagull, snail, whale, snake and llama, among others.

Cultural heritage of humanity

The Nazca Lines are a set of hundreds of geometric figures, animals or plants located in an immense desert in the Ica region, south of Lima, made by the Nazca culture (1st-7th century) and whose function and meaning is not I am clear, nor is it clear how they were made, since some exceed 100 meters and are only visible from above.

Despite their age, these famous and enigmatic figures were not discovered until the 1930s because the flatness of the desert surface allowed the drawings in their entirety to be seen only from the air or from a few surrounding hills.

EFE extension